WYOMING, MI — The knife Wyoming Police Officer Jeremy Walter
used to a cut free a man trapped inside a flaming car early Saturday morning still
has burn marks on it.

But those marks are the only ones Walter and officers Steve
Rellinger and Robert Meredith bore four days after rescuing three men injured
in a fiery car crash. The three men — Troy Durayle, 24; Clarence Lavar-Dominigue
Lewis, 26; and Jacques Devon Strong, 24 — went to area hospitals with injuries.

Just after midnight on Saturday, April 20, the officers sped
to a report of a collision between a car and a semi-truck in the 4600 block of
Clyde Park SW. The car was on fire, and there was a person trapped inside of
it. Walter was the first officer on the scene.

"There were some bystanders standing there, pointing to the
car and yelling to me that there was somebody still inside," Walter said
Tuesday, April 23, at the Wyoming Police Department.

Some of the bystanders were trying to pull Lewis from the
passenger side of the car, Walter said. He ran back to his patrol car and
grabbed his fire extinguisher. Walter went back to the burning car and sprayed the fire extinguisher
at the engine. With the flames knocked down a bit, Walter looked inside the
passenger door. He figured Lewis was trapped inside the car by his seat belt.
The bystanders had already pulled Durayle and Strong from the car.

Walter un-clipped a Gerber multi-tool from his belt
and went into the car with it. A video of the scene showed smoke billowing and
flames shooting from the car. He cut Lewis' shoulder belt but could not reach
the lap belt. Smoke and flames pushed Walter back from the car. He caught his
breath and went back.

Flames shot from underneath the dash near Lewis' legs.
Someone next to Walter, likely one of the bystanders, grabbed the fire
extinguisher and sprayed the flames again. Walter saw an opening, went in and
cut the lap belt.

Just as Walter started to drag Lewis to safety, Rellinger
arrived on scene and ran to the car. Working together, Rellinger and Walter
picked up Lewis. The fire intensified. The two officers nearly disappeared behind
a wash of smoke.

"We actually were having trouble getting him out," Rellinger
said. "We had to go out and take breath and come back in again."

As Walter and Rellinger worked to drag Lewis to safety,
Officer Meredith was rending first aid to Durayle, the driver of the car.
Durayle had a compound fracture and was having trouble breathing. Meredith had
him stabilized but decided to move Durayle further from the car for their
safety.

"It was pretty much life or limb at that point," Meredith
said.

Firefighters quickly arrived on scene and began spraying
water on the car. A small explosion sent two firefighters to the ground. They
popped right up and resumed spraying water, Walter said. The firefighters were
not trying to save the car, Walter said. They were trying to save everyone at
the scene — victims, bystanders, police officers, paramedics.

"They did a heck of a job," Walter said.

Meredith said the scene chaotic. Walter said the bystanders,
some of whom were employees from a nearby trucking company, were a mix of calm
and panic.

"I don't know who they are," Walter said of the bystanders
at the scene. "I didn't get the chance to get their names, but I'm really glad
that they did what they did."

"They went out of their way to help," Rellinger added.

Lewis is in fair condition, while the others were critically
injured, according to police. The police officers were not injured. Walter said
his jacket has a few small burn holes.

Walter has carried the multi-tool he used to save Lewis on
his belt for his entire career as a police officer. It was a gift when he graduated
from the academy.

"I put it on my belt 12 years ago, and it's always kind of
been there," Walter said, holding the tool in his hand Tuesday.